FR2835687A1 - Segment of ring for mounting electrode for a metallurgical oven, uses shoulders on segments to define internal passages between segments that allow passage for actuator that clamps connectors to electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

The ring segments have actuators between the ring and contact plates, and the ends of adjacent segments (6a) have an external shoulder (42) which extends axially to define an interior passage (43), and an internal shoulder that extends axially and defines and exterior passage. The mounting for the segments traverses (51) the circumferential faces and cooperates with exterior and interior faces.

Description

<Desc / Clms Page number 1>

Crown segment, thrust means and crown for an electrical connection device of an electrode
The present invention relates to the field of electrical connection devices for electrodes, in particular electrodes for electrometallurgical furnaces.

 To supply electrical energy to an electrode of an electrometallurgical furnace, it is common to suspend around this electrode a multiplicity of contact plates, to surround these contact plates with a suspended crown composed of peripheral segments linked together by hinges with vertical axes and to interpose cylinders between each ring segment and each contact plate.

 Patent FR 2 466 168 describes in particular a jack arranged in a recess in a ring segment, this jack comprising a fixed part constituted by a ring fixed in the bottom of the recess by screws and a movable part made of a front plate bearing against the contact plate and a metal bellows connecting the rear ring and the front plate so as to constitute a pressure chamber in front of the bottom of the recess in the crown segment. In addition, the contact plate has a cylindrical collar engaged in the recess of the crown segment, at the periphery of the jack.

 Such an arrangement poses difficulties with regard to the heat resistance of its metal bellows and of the seals of the cooling conduits of the crown and of the resistance of the bellows with respect to projections, in particular in the event of rupture of the electrode and difficulties in electrically insulating the crown from the contact plates. This known arrangement also risks causing a wedging of a contact plate with respect to a ring segment so that the distribution of the supports of the different contact plates against the electrode under the effect of the different jacks is not more assured. In addition, in the event that a cylinder is damaged, the operation of changing it requires a

<Desc / Clms Page number 2>

 prolonged shutdown of the oven due to the fact that the different parts of the cylinder must be removed one after the other and reassembled one after the other.

 The object of the present invention is to propose a crown segment and a crown limiting at least in particular the above drawbacks.

 The present invention firstly relates to a ring segment for an electrical connection device of an electrode, in particular of an electrode of an electrometallurgical furnace, having a recess in which is arranged a pushing means intended to act on a contact plate to apply the latter against the electrode.

 According to the invention, said pushing means preferably comprises a movable support member which has a front face intended to come into abutment against said contact plate and which has a peripheral surface adapted to move along a peripheral wall of said recess and at a short distance from this wall.

 According to the invention, the crown segment is preferably provided with at least one annular seal disposed between said contact member and the aforementioned peripheral wall of said recess.

 According to the invention, said annular seal can be a thermal seal.

 According to the invention, said annular seal can be a scraper seal.

 According to the invention, said annular seal can be a seal.

 According to the invention, said annular seal is preferably engaged in an annular groove formed in the aforementioned peripheral surface of said movable support member.

 According to the invention, the crown segment is preferably provided, successively from the front edge of said recess, with a thermal seal, a scraper seal and a seal disposed between said movable support member. and the aforementioned peripheral wall of said recess.

<Desc / Clms Page number 3>

 According to the invention, said annular seals can advantageously be respectively engaged in annular grooves formed in the aforementioned peripheral surface of said movable support member.

 According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, said mobile support member comprises a front plate and an annular ring extending this front plate and engaged in said recess, this ring having the aforementioned peripheral surface of this mobile support member.

 The present invention also relates to a crown segment for an electrical connection device for an electrode, in particular an electrode of an electrometallurgical furnace, having a recess in which is arranged a pushing means intended to act on a contact plate to apply the latter against the electrode.

 According to the invention, such a ring segment preferably has at least one through passage (29) which opens into said recess, at least one holding or coupling means extending in this passage and cooperating with a fixed part of said means of thrust.

 According to the invention, the fixed part of said pushing means may advantageously have at least one lateral recess, said holding or coupling member engaging in this lateral recess.

 According to the invention, said holding or coupling member preferably comprises a holding or coupling rod engaged in said through passage and cooperating with a fixed part of said pushing means, this rod extending perpendicular to the axis. said pushing means.

 According to the invention, said pushing means preferably comprises a pressure chamber formed between said movable support member and a fixed part, means for feeding a fluid into this pressure chamber being provided through said part fixed.

 According to the invention, said fixed part preferably has

<Desc / Clms Page number 4>

 a through channel opening into said pressure chamber, a fluid supply conduit being connected to this channel and extending through a passage of the crown segment.

 According to the invention, said pushing means may advantageously comprise a fixed part comprising a rear part and an annular skirt projecting towards the front, a mobile part comprising a front plate bearing against said contact plate, a piston engaged in said annular skirt and integral with this front plate, and a bellows connected on the one hand to said rear part and on the other hand to said front part of bearing against said contact plate, said bellows being disposed at the periphery and at a distance of said annular skirt, so as to determine a pressure chamber.

 The present invention also relates to a thrust means in particular intended to be placed in a recess in a ring segment to act on a contact plate on an electrode of a metallurgical furnace.

 According to the invention, such a pushing means preferably comprises a fixed part comprising a rear part intended to come into abutment against the bottom of the recess of the crown segment and an annular skirt projecting forward, a movable part comprising a front support plate intended to come into abutment against said contact plate, a piston engaged in said annular skirt and integral with said front plate, and a bellows connected on the one hand to said rear part and on the other to said front portion of bearing against said contact plate, said bellows being disposed at the periphery and at a distance from said annular skirt, so as to determine a pressure chamber.

 Said fixed part preferably comprises at least one channel for supplying a fluid into said pressure chamber and a part intended to cooperate with a member for holding or coupling with the crown segment.

 Said movable part preferably comprises an annular ring integral with said front plate and intended to engage in the recess of the crown segment to move along and

<Desc / Clms Page number 5>

 a short distance from the peripheral wall of this recess.

 According to the invention, said ring preferably has at least one peripheral annular groove, an annular seal being engaged in this groove to come into contact with the peripheral wall of the recess of the crown segment.

 According to the invention, said ring preferably has peripheral annular grooves in which are respectively engaged a thermal seal, a scraper seal and a seal.

 According to the invention, the rear part of said fixed part preferably has at least one lateral recess intended to receive a holding member.

 The present invention also relates to a crown for an electrical connection device of an electrode, in particular of an electrode of an electrometallurgical furnace, in which thrust means are arranged between this crown and contact plates to apply the latter against the electrode, said crown comprising crown segments connected to each other.

 According to the invention, the adjacent end portions of two contiguous segments preferably comprise one an outer shoulder which extends axially and which delimits an internal recess and the other an internal shoulder which extends axially and which delimits an external recess so as to constitute axial bearing faces of one of the segments on the other and substantially circumferential bearing faces of one of the segments on the other such as the shoulder of one of the segments engages in the recess of the other.

 The crown further preferably comprises means for fixing two contiguous segments which pass through said substantially circumferential bearing faces and cooperate with their abovementioned external and internal shoulders.

 According to the invention, the interior recess of the corresponding segment is preferably limited axially by an end shoulder which engages in a recess in the other segment.

<Desc / Clms Page number 6>

 According to the invention, said fixing means are preferably located at a distance from said end shoulder.

 According to the invention, two adjacent segments are preferably equipped with a device for hooking a suspension which bears on this element and passes through said support faces and which is fixed to the latter.

 The present invention will be better understood from the study of an electrical connection device for an electrode in particular of an electrometallurgy furnace, described by way of nonlimiting example and illustrated by the drawings in which: - the figure 1 shows a partial radial section of an electrical connection device of an electrode according to the present invention; - Figure 2 shows a section in elevation along II-II of a ring segment of the electrical connection device of Figure 1; - Figure 3 shows a partial section in elevation corresponding to that of Figure 2; - Figure 4 shows a top view of a portion of the electrical connection device of Figure 1; - Figure 5 shows a view from the inside of a portion of the crown of the electrical connection device of Figure 1; - And Figure 6 shows a perspective view of two contiguous, separate segments of the crown of the electrical connection device of Figure 1.

 Referring more particularly to Figure 1, we see that there is shown an electrical connection device 1 which comprises a multiplicity of contact plates 2 regularly distributed at the periphery of a vertical cylindrical electrode 3 and having respectively an inner face 4 cylindrical in contact with the periphery of the electrode 3 and a flat external face of support 5, as well as a multiplicity of contiguous segments 6 of crown, disposed respectively on the periphery of the contact plates 2 and laterally connected together by means that one

<Desc / Clms Page number 7>

 will describe later so as to constitute a hanging crown 7.

 Each ring segment 6 of the example shown is made up as follows.

 The ring segment 6 has a cylindrical recess 8 open on the side of the corresponding contact plate 2 and having a flat bottom 9, the axis of this recess being perpendicular to the axis of the electrode 3.

 In the recess 9 of the ring segment 6 is disposed a thrust cylinder 10.

 This thrust cylinder 10 comprises a fixed part 11 which consists of a rear part formed by a ring 12, the rear face of which bears against the bottom 9 of the recess 8 by means of a circular plate 9a in an electrically insulating material, the periphery of which extends a short distance from the cylindrical wall of the recess 9 and by a cylindrical skirt 13 which extends along the axis of the recess 8, projecting forward at from the ring 12 and the rear part of which is welded in a sealed manner to this ring 12.

 The jack 10 comprises a movable part 14, or contact or support member, which consists of a front support plate 15 in the form of a disc, the front face 15a of which is intended to come into abutment against the face 5 of the corresponding contact plate 2, a piston 16 engaged in the skirt 13 so as to slide and projecting from the rear face of the front support plate 15, as well as a metallic cylindrical bellows 17 to annular beads, for example in non-magnetic stainless steel. This metal bellows 17 is disposed at the periphery and at a distance from the skirt 13 and its rear and front ends 18 and 19 are respectively welded in a sealed manner to the rear ring 12 of the fixed part 11 and to the rear face of the front plate 15, so as to delimit an annular chamber 20 with the cylindrical skirt 13.

The movable part 14 further comprises a cylindrical ring 21 which is engaged in the recess 8 and the periphery of which is a short distance from the cylindrical wall of the recess
8. This cylindrical ring 21 is connected, for example by a cord

<Desc / Clms Page number 8>

 of annular weld 22, at the periphery of the front plate 15 so as to extend behind the latter.

 The cylindrical ring 21 has three peripheral annular grooves 23, 24 and 25 in which are respectively disposed annular seals 26, 27 and 28 which are in contact with the cylindrical wall of the recess 8, this wall having a surface state suitable for friction of these joints.

 The seal 26, placed on the side of the end edge of the recess 8 of the ring segment 6 constitutes a thermal seal, for example made of Kevlar. The intermediate seal 27 constitutes a scraper seal, for example constituted by a bronze ring. The innermost seal 28 constitutes a seal, for example made of rubber.

The crown segment 6 has vertical holes 29 and
30 emerging from above in which are arranged retaining rods 31 and 32 which pass freely in opposite lateral grooves or recesses 33 and 34 formed in the periphery of the rear ring 12 of the jack 10, perpendicular to its axis, so as to maintain the latter. Thus, the jack 10 is fixed in the recess 8 by means external to this recess.

 The rear ring 12 of the jack 10 has two channels 35 for supplying fluid into the pressure chamber 20, which are L-shaped, the horizontal branches of which open forward into this chamber 20 and the vertical branches of which are connected upwards at the lower ends of the fluid supply conduits 36 extending in vertical passages 37 of the ring segment 6 of larger sections. Thus, the jack 10 is supplied with pressurized fluid by means not connected to the ring segment 6.

Having manufactured and assembled the fixed part 11 and the mobile part 14 of the jack 10 and fitted its cylindrical ring 21 with seals
26, 27 and 2 and having manufactured the crown segment 6, as they have just been described, having installed the insulation plate 9a at the bottom of the recess 8, the assembly is carried out as follows.

<Desc / Clms Page number 9>

 The cylinder 10 is installed in the recess 8 of the crown segment 6 by first engaging its rear ring 12, to the bottom of this recess 8 and in a position such that the opposite lateral grooves 33 and 34 are in alignment with the holes 29 and 30 of the crown segment 6 and the vertical branches of the channels 35 are in alignment with the passages 37 and the crown segment 6.

 Then, the retaining rods 31 and 32 are threaded into the holes 29 and 30 of the crown segment 6 so that they extend into the lateral grooves 33 and 34 of the rear ring 12 of the jack 10, the upper ends holding rods 31 and 32 projecting above the crown segment 6.

 The crown segment 6 being in place relative to the corresponding contact plate 2, the supply and return conduits 36 of the pressure chamber 20 are installed.

 In operation, the pressure prevailing in the annular chamber 20 applies on the one hand the rear ring 12 against the bottom of the recess 8 and moves the front plate 15 provided with the piston 16 so as to apply its front face 15a against the surface 5 of the contact plate 2, by deforming the metal bellows 17. In doing so, the cylindrical ring 21 moves along the cylindrical wall of the recess 8 by sliding the seals 26, 27 and 28 in abutment against this cylindrical wall .

 Preferably, the respective positions of the holding rods 31 and 32 and of the lateral grooves or recesses 33 and 34 of the rear part 12 of the jack 10 are such that these holding rods are not stressed by the thrust forces.

 It follows from the above that the metal bellows 17 is confined inside the recess 8 of the ring segment 6 by means of the front plate 15 and the cylindrical ring 21 of the movable part 14 of the jack 10 and is protected thanks to the front support plate 15 and its extension constituted by the cylindrical ring 21 located a short distance from the peripheral wall of the recess 8 and by the provision of the joints 26, 27 and 28, so that an boulcier for protecting the metal bellows 17 is produced.

<Desc / Clms Page number 10>

 For disassembly, simply disconnect the conduits 36, extract the holding rods 31 and 32 and extract the jack 10 from the recess 10.

 The crown 7 of the electrical connection device 1 is constructed as follows.

 The end portions 38 and 39 of two contiguous crown segments 6a and 6b are such that the segment 6a has an external shoulder 40 which extends along the axis to the electrode 3 and which delimits an internal recess 41 and that the segment 6b has an internal shoulder 42 which extends along the axis to the electrode 3 and which delimits an external recess 43.

The outer shoulder 40 of the segment 6a is engaged in the outer recess 43 of the segment 6b and the inner shoulder 42 of the segment 6b is engaged in the inner recess 41 of the segment
6a so as to constitute an interlocking such that the sides in contact with one another on the shoulders 40 and 42 constitute approximately circumferential bearing faces according to a bearing plane
44 and that the end faces of the shoulders 40 and 42 and the corresponding faces of the recesses 43 and 41 constitute bearing faces extending along support planes 45 and 46 passing approximately through the axis of the electrode 3 and between which extends the support plane 44.

 The end part 38 of the segment 6a has an internal shoulder 47 which constitutes a lower limitation to its internal recess 46, this internal shoulder 47 being engaged in a recess 48 formed at the lower end of the internal shoulder 42 of the part end 39 of the segment 6b so that the segments 6a and 6b are also supported one on the other according to a support plane 49 approximately radial to the electrode 3.

In order to assemble the crown segments 6a and 6b, screws
50 pass through bores 51 formed through the shoulder 40 of the segment 6a and are screwed into tapped holes 52 formed in the inner shoulder of the segment 6b, these screws passing through the bearing plane 44 and extending approximately perpendicularly to this

<Desc / Clms Page number 11>

 support plan.

 An attachment member 55, which passes through the support planes 44, 45 and 46, is fixed to the upper radial faces 53 and 54 of the segments 6a and 6b by screws 56 and 57. This attachment member 55 has a passage 58 which is crossed by an axis 59 connecting to the lower part of a suspension rod 60.

In an exemplary embodiment, the crown 7 can have eight contiguous crown segments 6. The end parts of each segment being produced in the same manner as described above and only four hooking members
55 being provided. Preferably, the associated suspensions 60 are connected to upper fasteners independent of the contact plates 2 in order to facilitate the electrical insulation of the crown 7 with respect to these contact plates.

 In this way, in particular, the crown segments 6 are firmly fixed to each other and constitute a rigid crown, while being easily separable, and the fastenings formed by the screws 50 are protected by the labyrinth effect of the shoulders of abovementioned end of the segments 6. In view of its independence from the contact plates 2, the crown 7 can be rotated by changing the position of the suspensions 60.

 The present invention is not limited to the example described above. Many alternative embodiments are possible without departing from the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims (4)

1. Crown for an electrical connection device of an electrode, in particular of an electrode of an electrometallurgical furnace, in which thrust means are arranged between this crown and contact plates for applying the latter against the electrode, said crown comprising, crown segments connected to each other, characterized in that the adjacent end portions of two contiguous segments (6a, 6b) one includes an outer shoulder (42) which extends axially and which delimits an internal recess (43) and the other an internal shoulder (40) which extends axially and which delimits an external recess (41) so as to constitute axial bearing faces of one of the segments on the other and substantially circumferential bearing faces of one of the segments on the other such that the shoulder of one of the segments engages in the recess of the other and by the fact that it includes fixing means ion (50) of two contiguous segments which pass through said substantially circumferential bearing faces and cooperate with their above-mentioned outer and inner shoulders (40,42).  2. Crown according to claim 1, characterized in that the internal recess of the corresponding segment is axially limited by an end shoulder (47) which engages in a recess (48) of the other segment.  3. Crown according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said fixing means are located at a distance from said end shoulder.  4. Crown according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a hooking member (55) of a suspension is supported on two adjacent segments (6a, 6b) crossing said bearing faces and is attached to these.